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H&M founders donate $137 million to employees

Swedish clothing retailer H&M said Tuesday it will give 4 million H&M shares, at a current estimated value of one billion kronor ($137 million), to its staff in a move to encourage employees’ long-term involvement.

“The idea is to create a long-term incentive program which is the same for all employees. The program is also a way of generating further involvement. Our hope is that H&M will continue to develop well and that the employees will be able to benefit from H&M’s value growth in the same manner as a shareholder”, says Stefan Persson, Chairman of the Board in H&M.

The program is intended to strengthen H&M as an attractive employer, the company said, which will benefit future recruitment during H&M's major global expansion.

All employees in the H&M Group in all countries are included in the program, which is based on the amount of time worked in the company, regardless of position or salary level.

The money is donated by the Persson family and will be transferred to a newly established Swedish foundation, Stiftelsen H&M Incentive Program.

The Persson family is the group's main shareholder. It owns 37 percent of the capital and 70 percent of the voting rights. The company was established in 1947 by current chief executive officer Karl-Johan Persson's grandfather Erling Persson. Today H&M -- the world's third-largest fashion chain by revenue behind US-based Gap and Spain's Inditex -- has more than 2,000 stores in 35 countries.